


Enter: Detective Dick Grayson

by TGIntentX



Series: Honesty Is All I Need From You [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Nightwing (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Drugs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-06 20:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8767885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TGIntentX/pseuds/TGIntentX
Summary: Dick joins the GCPD and was partnered with Jason-a cocky, confident cop with an attitude to spare. Their first investigation centers around a difficult boy named Damian who's up to no good. When Jason and Damian are kidnapped, its up to Dick to come to their rescue and save the day.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the start of an anticipated series. Tags will be added as the story progresses and ratings may change. Inspired by the manga FAKE by Sanami Matoh this takes place before Lakeside Murder. I hope you enjoy.

The GCPD headquarters is a magnificent complex built to uphold the law and maintain justice for it's citizens. The officers are running to respond the call of duty, suspects are brought in to be booked, and witnesses and victims are being questioned or file an incident.

Just a typical day for GCPD.

A man in his early twenties with boyish good looks walks across the lobby where everyone is too busy to give him the time of day but would give an appreciative glance before returning to their duties. He has floppy black hair with blue shining eyes, wearing a blue button up with a black tie while carrying a long coat in his arms. He greets a Latina woman by the front desk who was waiting for him with a smile and hands her a folder containing his paperwork.

She looks through the paperwork, making one or two remarks before going through her own folder.

“Transfer from Blüdhaven's police department? You'll fit right in.” She handed the paperwork back to the man with additional papers from her own folder. “I'm Senior Detective Renee Montoya of the Major Crimes Unit. Although you'll be in the same unit, most of the time we won't be able to run into each other as I'm always on the field a lot. Here are additional information just for you about department policies, sick days, etc.”

With that she led the man down the hall. “Commissioner Gordon isn't in the office right now so you'll need to hand those documents to Detective Bullock. Richard, if you need help or if Bullock is giving you a hard time you can come to me for help. My office is down the opposite hall.”

“Thank you ma'am,” said Richard Grayson. Or as he like people to call him Dick.

As per Montoya's instructions, he goes down the hall to Detective Bullock's office. He reached his destination and shakes his shoulders to work the nerves out of his system.

Dick knocks on the detective's door waiting for an answer. This is his first day being transferred to this precinct and wants to make a good impression.

Not hearing anything after a beat, he slowly opens the door. “Excuse me-”

“You can't just do what you want!”

Dick was startled by the outburst as he entered the room. He saw an gruff man who is a little bit overweight wearing a fedora indoors, yelling at the man with his back turned from him staring out the window.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop beating perps into a bloody pulp?! You need to follow protocol... Todd are you even listening to me?!” The gruff man slammed his hand down on the table to get his attention.

“Yeah, I am...”

Seeing that this might take a while and the two didn't notice him entering the room (or perhaps didn't care), Dick cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Huh? What do you want, son?” The man at the desk takes a break from scolding his possible future coworker.

“My name is Richard Grayson. I was recently assigned to this department, sir.” Dick handed him the papers regarding to his transfer. The man scanned the documents before turning to Dick.

“I am your commanding officer, Detective Harvey Bullock. Any assignment updates or issues, you will report to me or Commissioner Gordon who is out of the office at the moment.”

“Hold up!” Bullock stopped the man who was previously staring out of the window was sneaking out of his office as he is mid-step away from the door. He is not going to get away that easily.

“Grayson, this will be your new partner, Jason Todd. He will be showing you the ropes.”

Jason pointed to himself with an 'WTF, who me?!' look. He grumbles, leaving the office with Dick trailing behind him.

“I'm Jason, Jason Todd.”

“Richard Grayson,” He reintroduces again. “Nice to meet you.”

When Jason stops walking and moves to the side of the hallway, Dick sticks out his hand to shake. Jason takes his hand and moves in close to Dick's face as the latter leans back from the abrupt proximity. Feeling a hint of blush spreading across his cheeks, the man before him is tall and possibly as big as a house stares at Dick intensely.

“Hmmm...you got really blue eyes...”

“Huh? Oh, um, thank you.”

At the mention of his eyes he takes a moment to study Jason's. Contrast to his blue eyes, Jason has bright green eyes that seems to spark with mischief. Bits of freckle scattered across his nose bridge with small unnoticeable scars tracing around his face. All in all, Jason is very attractive but that's not the reason why he is blushing. There's just something about him that he just couldn't put his mind to it.

“So, do you have a shorter name instead of Richard? It sounds too formal for you.”

Dick almost misses the question as he turned away to get his bearings. “You could call me Dick. Its a shorter name for Richard.”

“Dick, huh?” Dick blushed at how Jason's voice seems to get lower when he hears his name being rolled on his tongue. Jason finally moves away from Dick's personal space allowing room to breath.

“Hey, we're partners now! You can depend on me for anything, Dickie!” Jason said obnoxiously and laughs as he shakes Dick's hand hard.

As Jason starts walking away, Dick stares at his back with an incredulous expression. Jason seems like a pretty open person, but a bit obnoxious. He couldn't get a good read on this guy and this is his new partner.

“I can't believe that I'm stuck with a rookie,” Jason whined walking through the halls.

“Jason, I'd appreciate it if you'd retract the 'rookie' comment,” Dick stiffly said. “I've been in the force for a while and this is just a transfer to a different department.”

“Oh sorry man, my bad,” Jason offhandedly apologized. “Here we call anybody new a rookie unless they are really old. But its not that bad compared to the other units, they call them 'children'.”

Jason showed him the rest of the facilities before reaching to their office. He opens the door to let Dick walk in first.

“Since Bullock didn't give you access to our database or assign you to a case yet, you can take a look at some of my old ones so you can get a feel on what we will mostly work on,” Jason goes through the cabinet and digs for the files. He places the files on an empty desk next to his, gesturing to Dick to sit down. “Have a crack at it. If you need me, I'll be over here working on my report.”

Dick sits in an empty desk across from Jason's and started to read the files. As he goes through the cases he realized that there was a pattern. Most of the cases indicated the use of lethal force that left suspects in critical condition. There were a few fatalities mentioned but 80% of the deceased were considered deplorable and death is too soft of a punishment. But all of the cases are solved with barely any civilians injured.

Dick glanced at Jason from the corner of his eye, sitting at his desk writing his case report. Just from reading his case files Jason has no problem going above and beyond the acceptable parameters of a police officer. Shot kneecaps? Sliced fingers? A bullet through a rapist's head? His methods are ruthless that its a miracle he hasn't been charged or suspended.

Dick closes the case files and puts them back where they belonged. He would be working with a partner who wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force. He couldn't help but feel nervous as he approached Jason.

“I'm done reading your old cases. Is there anything I can help you with?” Dick asked, doing a good job to hide his nervousness.

Jason looked up at him from his report, contemplating. “Well...I suppose...”

He moves out of the way to pull out another set of case files and handed Dick the folder.

“Here's what I've been working on. We have a John Doe who was recently admitted to our CSI division for autopsy. The body was found in the Narrows riddled with bullets but no wallet or any personal items to identify this guy. We questioned the residents and possible witnesses but none of them have ever seen the man before or the person who did this. Most likely they are lying to our faces but Bullock wouldn't let me question them any more than necessary.”

Dick turns the page and sees John Doe's profile. He is a daunting man who has black hair with gray streaks that stands up on the back of his head. He has a long black mustache and wild black eyebrows. Information shows that John suffered defensive wounds aside from bullets. There are numerous old scars and wounds on his body that shows that he was a fighter. There's just something off about this man that even as a corpse something is not right.

“Needless to say this isn't some mugging gone wrong,” Jason continued as he flips to another page. “We're dealing with a homicide because a man like him doesn't walk around the slums in his free time. The clothes he wore looks royalty and traditional. Forensics hasn't got back to me on their origins but all I can tell you is that its not from Gotham.”

“If that were the case, he might not have originated from Gotham, but the guys who did this-are they from a criminal organization?” Dick asked.

“Possibly,” Jason responded. “The alley is well-known for drug dealing activity. To outsiders it may look like a drug deal gone wrong but the body doesn't have any indication of drugs in his system.”

“Are there any leads to to pin them somewhere?”

“Word is that a new drug 'venom' has recently hit the streets and that area is filled with increased activity. Unlike any other drugs, this one is highly dangerous. Its more addicting with users experiencing an increase in rage and strength that may potentially hurt the people around them and themselves. We managed to nab a couple of drug dealers and guess what, they're associated with the Carmine family, one of the biggest crime mafias in Gotham City. Unfortunately they are so low at the bottom of the food chain that the lack of solid evidence wasn't enough to bring down the big dogs. If we somehow manage to bring these guys down, then we'd also be gaining a solid foothold in our future narcotics-related investigations and shut them down for good.”

Dick looked through the second folder containing information on the Carmine family. Most of the information is organized but scattered. There were some arrests made but the crooks were eventually released. Drug dealers aren't the problem and getting them arrested would mean more will take their place. The mafia must have been very good at evading law enforcement.

“A homicide soured by drugs? This could get messy. But how does John Doe's murder connect him to the mafia? It seems unlikely that a regular drug dealer could cause so much damage to just one man.”

“You're right, its someone not from the Carmines.”

A commotion outside prompted them to stop what they were doing. There was shouting and feet stomping heard that made them both left the office to check out what was going on.

Out in the hall across from them, there were a crowd of policemen gathered toward the center.

“What the hell is going on?” Jason asked as they move towards the commotion.

Peering over the crowd they could see a pre-adolescent boy in black swinging a sword around him. He has tanned skin with black hair and dark-green impatient eyes. Although his face is still rounded with youth, it is beginning to hollow with signs of him growing older.

Appearances can be deceiving as the officers are beginning to notice. Although it appears the boy's swing is wild and untamed, it is doing the job of keeping other people back from its welder. The boy managed to duck out of the out-stretched arms trying to grab him as he moves towards the duo's direction. The officers around him learned a painful lesson as some of them have received cuts from the sword or bruises from the kick to their shins.

“Don't let him get to the ICU!” an officer shouted. So far none of the officers are successful in containing the boy.

One of the officers besides Dick is slowly moving towards his holster before Jason snapped at him. “Are you fucking crazy?! That's a kid you are about to shoot! What the fuck is the matter of you?” Jason slapped the officer's back of the head and even go so far as to remove the belt.

“This kid is fucking crazy!” the officer complained. “We couldn't stop him in the lobby and he managed to incapacitate a couple of us on the way here.”

Dick looks around as the boy is getting closer to the them. The ICU wing is right behind them and he doesn't want to know what the kid has in mind. He sees a band of yellow tape on the bench and a baton from the disarmed officer's belt. Dick unclips the batons from the officers belt and puts the tape in his back pocket. He moved towards the boy while unknotting his tie and stood in front of him.

“Dick, what the hell are you doing?” Jason asked, shocked and worried.

“Don't worry I have a plan. Everybody should get back,” Dick took the batons into each hand and faced the boy.

The boy finally gets closer and noticed Dick standing in his way.

“Move. Or you will be moved,” the boy snarled.

Dick moves into a stance with the batons at the ready. As much as he hates children getting hurt, he has a feeling that the boy can take a few hits.

The boy lets out a primal growl, charges Dick with his sword at the ready. He swung multiple times as Dick either meets his blow with his batons or dodges out of the way. With the lack of space in a enclosed hallway full of people, Dick needs to be careful to avoid people around him getting hurt. There isn't much place to run that doesn't lead either to the ICU or the lobby. He could feel the sword barely made its intended aim but managed to slash at his body multiple times.

And that was his favorite business shirt.

The boy is not to be trifled with as he used his size to skillfully move under Dick's defensive maneuvers to kick him in the chest. The force of his kick is used as leverage to jump back as he landed on his feet softly and charged, ready to thrust his sword.

Dick stumbled backwards hitting the wall. He used the wall to roll away from the incoming strike and kicks off to charge at the boy full speed. He slammed the baton at the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and a sweeping kick to his attacker's hind legs knocking him down. He used the other baton to disable the boy's sword, sending it clattering to the floor and kicks it away.

He tries to pin him down but the boy didn't stay down. With an angry yell the boy used his small size to maneuver out from under Dick and slammed his elbow hard down on his back. Dick ducks out of the way and flips upright just in time to bring his baton to defend himself from the incoming punches. He managed to drop one of his baton as it rolled away, being picked up by the boy. Even though its a different weapon, the boy held the baton as a sword ready to be used against its original wielder.

Knowing that the boy is getting tired and desperate, its time to end it before anybody else gets hurt. Dick keeps boy busy by bringing down the heavy metal, letting the vibration shake through him and the boy. The metal vibration is disorienting the users but Dick could handle it, keeping his grip hard. He could see the boy's grip on the baton loosen due to the vibration. With such close distance, Dick quickly takes the yellow tape out from his back pocket to lassoed boy. One rotation knot isn't enough so Dick went around the boy a couple of times to disorient him, bounding the boy tighter and faster. By the time he ran out of yellow tape, everyone knows who is the winner. The boy is laid on the floor with his arms tied tight to the side of his body and his legs are tied to prevent him from escaping. The leftover tape is tied around his mouth, gagging him from biting Dick's arm in retaliation.

Everyone stood shock at what have they had just witnessed before applauding and cheering for Dick. Dick collapsed against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor and dropped his baton on the way down.

The kid gave a angry muffled from his gag, cursing the man. Not bad for his first day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone think of a series name for this? Once I get a title, I'll organize it.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason is sitting on the bench waiting for Dick to get back from the infirmary. As he sits there sipping his coffee, he replayed the fight in his head. Dick's movements are skillful and easily adapted to the boy's attacks. He noticed that during the whole fight, Dick was holding back and was mostly using defensive moves because he doesn't want to hurt the boy. But imagine if Dick didn't hold back, there’s just so much hidden potential that what he did back there just barely scratches the surface.

And Jason couldn't wait to see more.

“Hey Jason. You wouldn't believe the mess they roped me in,” a body plops down on the space beside him, running through his brown hair in exhaustion.

Kyle Rayner; Jason's coworker/partner-in-crime (in pranks) and Donna's partner. Before he came to the GCPD, he was a graphic artist at the Daily Planet (not his business to know why the sudden change of career path). For the most part of the day he lazed around the office doodling, but when it comes to handling a case he knows what to do.

“Ya'know that kid that was tied up by your partner? Well after we brought him into one of our interrogation rooms and untie him, he snarled and attacked us! I mean there's like three of us there and we were having trouble trying to cuff him. And that brat bit me! Bit Me!” Kyle waves his arm in front of Jason's face to show him the bite as the latter leaned away.

Kyle snatched Jason's coffee from his hand and took a sip before continuing. “Later some people came in like correctional and juvenile officers to deal with the kid but he's crazy. We literally had to hold back one of the guys from attacking the kid after the kid insulted him. The guy. Not the kid. Hell he even made a child psychologist cried and a social worker stormed out. And that's all in one hour!”

Jason raised his eyebrow at Kyle for recounting his tale and for drinking his coffee. He looks at his cup that was handed back to him with disgust before tossing it into the trash next to them. “So what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be guarding the kid?”

Kyle groans and slumps into the bench. “Shift change. They got more men guarding the kid than they do at a bank. But hey look, I took a video of the whole fight and literally saw the kid took a big chunk from that guy's hand. I mean blood was spilling and all but that was amazing.”

Kyle took out his phone and showed Jason the video. The video was shaky but the quality is very clear, showing Dick and the brat fighting. He didn't notice the video's background noise of people reacting to the fight when he was there. He guess it was so mesmerizing to watch Dick move so gracefully that everybody just fades away.

Jason was so enraptured watching the video that he didn't notice Kyle was still talking. “I really wanted to post that video on Youtube but Gordon and Bullock forbids any of us from posting about this saying the kid has privacy rights-oh look its the boy wonder.”

Jason piqued up and saw Dick walking towards them. His face was bandaged and his body is probably full of stitches seeing parts of his arms are wrapped as well. He replaced his ripped shirt and pants with a GCPD logo t-shirt and sweat pants looking out of place in the office setting. Jason noticed that Dick looks fit if the way his lean muscles and toned hips indicated otherwise.

Focus Jason. “Hey Dick, are you alright?” Jason asked.

“I'm okay. The doctor patched me up and I have at least seven stitches,” said Dick, pointing at his bandaged arm to show them.

“Hi I'm Kyle.” Kyle excitedly got out of his seat to shake Dick's hand. “I was just telling Jason how amazing you were. I mean you did those fancy flips like those things you see in movies. Where'd you learn how to do that?”

“Nice to meet you Kyle. And I've been doing those flips since I was a kid so its kindof my second nature,” Dick replied. “Hey, did you know what happen to that kid?”

“Yeah, he's in Interrogation Room 3. Do you want to see him?”

“Yeah. I want to see if he's okay.”

Kyle showed them the way to the room and went to the adjacent room next to it. Through the observation window they could see the kid sulking.

Dick's brow furrowed at the sight. “Um, why is the kid cuffed to the table?”

“Well as soon as we untied him, he tried to attack us,” Kyle reasoned. “Even though you took him down a notch, he's still vicious as ever. This is for his and our protection.”

Dick nodded before he turning his head to Kyle. “Why don't I give it a shot? But I will need the keys to his cuffs.”

Dick opens his hand out for Kyle to give him the key. As soon as he got it, he enters the room and gestured the other officers stationed in the room to leave. When they reluctantly left it is just Dick and the kid.

Dick sat across from the boy and gives him a comforting smile. He received a glare and the two sat in silence. After some seconds pass Dick takes out the cuff key and places it on the table.

The boy looked at the key distrustfully then glares at Dick.

“I was wondering if you wanted to talk. Or I can talk and you can listen. Either way is fine. But I would rather talk to you without you being cuffed to the table. All you have to do is give me your name and its all yours.”

The boy glares at Dick harder.

“Really, you could just give me your first name and I'm okay with that. For example my name is Richard Grayson but you can call me Dick. This is my first day at the GCPD.”

The boy didn't move an inch and the intensity from his glare didn't waver. Dick wondered what he should do before he caught the boy's eyes move quickly from the observation window and back to him.

Oh.

Dick takes a notepad from the side of the room and writes a message on it. He goes up to the observatory window and showed the people on the other side the message. After he showed them the message, he closes the blinds of the observatory window and clicks the panel off to insulate the sound. The boy stares at him incredulously as Dick goes to the camera located on the corner of the room and pulls the plug.

After he is done, Dick sits down and sighs. “Alright, we have 5 minutes before they come charging in here. I'm very sure they didn't say the Miranda Rights considering you've been trying to attack them every time they open their mouth. So basically you held the most cards on the deck. And I broke a bunch of rules just now but considering its my first day, hopefully they'll cut me some slack. But right now you have an opportunity to say whatever you want and you have my word that it won't be used against you and I won't tell them anything you don't want me say. All I want is to talk to you, not as a police officer or a stranger but as a friend.”

The boy stares at him before he finally spoke. “I would rather not have you talk to me in a condescending manner as those other people who came in earlier. My age does not reflect my maturity as those who came before are incompetent to do their job. But what makes you think that I would be willing to talk to you after I take the key?”

Dick blinked in surprise from the way the boy talked to him. “Its a risk that I'm willing to take but the choice is all yours if you trust me. You can even take the key and you don't need to say anything.” Dick puts up both of his hands to placate him.

The boy stared at Dick before he finally takes the key to unlock himself. “You may call me Damian.”

“Well Damian, its nice to meet you. Did they give you any medical attention yet - do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“You are wasting your precious time with mundane questions. I'm way beyond your kind of simplistic training able to handle a bunch of bumbling fools. As you saw for yourself you ended up being the one to seek medical attention instead,” Damian said with a nasty smile.

Dick didn't rise to the bait as his expression doesn't change. “Well I apologize for any future bruises that may appear on your body later on. But don't forget, you lost that fight.”

Damian narrowed his eyes at him before turning away, rubbing his wrists. “What do you want from me?”

“I just wanted to talk. I heard from the other officers that you were the one who attacked a man and put him in the ICU. Right now he's got more monitors hooked up to him than Arkham has lunatics.”

Damian scowled and slammed a fist onto the metal table loudly. “He doesn't deserve to breathe! I came to finish the job.”

Dick leaned back in his chair, pondering the angry boy in front of him. Theres something familiar about that rage and anger. He's hiding something that Dick needs to dig deep in order to figure him out. “Did that man do something to you? Or rather...did he take something away from you?”

Damian froze at the accusation before quickly schooling his emotions. His emotions is something that Dick is familiar with a long time ago as he talked softly but firmly.

“I can't say I understand your situation but I know that feeling you're going through because I lost someone too.”

Damian flinched.

Dick looks at the boy in front of him sadly. “Look Damian... I know this is painful but... I was wondering about that person. Just because you're a boy doesn't mean you need to keep this bottled up. I remembered feeling angry at not only the person who caused me to lose them but also at myself because I could have done something about it. I thought keeping my feelings bottled up would show everyone that I wasn't weak, but I couldn't control it for long and it almost led me to self-destruction.”

Damian's head is bowed to stare at the floor. “I was taught to destroy my enemies. He killed my grandfather, he has to pay,” he said quietly.

“And he will,” Dick reaches for Damian's hand across the table to comfort him but Damian quickly retract it to his lap. Dick kept the hurt look threatening to show on his face before he continues. “We would bring him to justice and be processed against the law. They will throw him in jail where he wouldn't hurt anyone again.”

“It isn't enough,” said Damian in a quiet voice that threatened to break.

“Is it? If you kill him, you would be on the same level as him. Would your grandfather approve of that?”

Dick knows that Damian was so caught in feeling angry because anger is easier to deal with than sadness. He needs Damian to know that it is okay to be sad, that he doesn't have to show everyone that he needs to be strong all the time.

Because he will be there for him.

Dick gives a sad smile before he stands up slowly to move near Damian. He stops beside him before lowering himself to his hunches until he is at eye-level with the boy. “Although I was older than you when it happened, my whole life came crashing down in front of me. Literally. I cried the entire day when I lost them and I have never felt so alone in my entire life.”

“Well I'm not gonna cry!” Damian's voice breaks with tears dripping onto his pants. “I-I'm not...”

Dick puts a hand on Damian's shoulder bringing him to a hug. “You're very strong Damian...”

 

* * *

 

 

“I'm not gonna ask you again – Are you looking at Dick again?! Stop ignoring me and answer my question!”

After the private moment with Dick, Damian is calm enough to be confronted by law enforcements. Since nobody wants to deal with the boy again, that task is handed to Dick and Jason.

So far there hasn't been any progress.

Jason slammed his hand down on the metal table in frustration. The brat hasn't been cooperative after Dick had a minute with him and Damian is just ignoring him. Granted he wasn't attacking anybody at the moment but he's wasting both of their time just sitting there drinking his hot chocolate.

Dick could have five minutes with the brat to make him cry, but he's been questioning the boy for under an hour and still doesn't have his answers.

“Grayson.”

Dick was sitting next to Jason when he perked up hearing his name. He could see a bunch of doodles on his notepad when he was supposed to be taking notes.

“Yes Damian?”

“I will only talk to Grayson but not to you,” said Damian as he pointed at Jason to single him out.

Jason felt angry wanted nothing more than to strangle the boy on how spoiled he's acting. Calling Dick only by his last name is just rude. The way he talks to them like he is above their league makes Jason want to tear his own hair out. The worst part is that Damian has Dick wrapped around his finger, taking advantage of the new guy's bleeding heart.

Dick just gives Jason a half-hearted shrug indicating he'll try his best as Jason left the room and slammed the door shut.

 

 

A while later Commissioner Gordon called a meeting to discuss the boy's situation. The group sat around the conference room table looking over the information Dick got from Damian.

“So according to Damian, the guy that he put in the ICU is named Ubu. No last name, Ubu was a trusted bodyguard for his grandfather before he murdered his employer. Damian said that Ubu has been in contact with some drug dealers by giving them information and hired muscle. They offered him a higher pay raise than his former job and all he has to do is to take out his former employer.”

Jason read through the notes before he remembered something from his other case. “The body that they found in the Narrows... could it be...”

“Yes. The body recently found there was Damian's grandfather. According to Damian, the grandfather received a phone call and left the house. He never returned home.”

Jason pulls out the John Doe file from his pile and made a note of it before handing it to Gordon to read. At least that solved some of his problems.

“Did Damian tell you what his grandfather's name is?” asked the beautiful woman sitting next to Kyle. She has black hair with star studded earrings, wearing a black glittered blouse.

“Um...yes. His grandfather's name is Raysh al gall? Ras al ghoul? Sorry I can't pronounce it and I'm pretty sure my spelling is incorrect,” said Dick, turning the paper in his hand to look at his note closely.

Bullock dropped his pen with a clatter as he stares at Dick in disbelief. “Do you mean Ra's al Ghul as in the head of the international conglomerate LoA?! The Demon's Head?!”

Dick made an unsure sound. “Uh...yes to the first part and not exactly what you mean for the other part.”

Suddenly Bullock got out of his seat with his hands on his face swearing under his breath before sliding back down to his seat and pulled something from his laptop. “I can't believe that man is under our noses the whole time and that we have his dead friggin body!”

“Bullock calm down. What are you going on about?” Gordon asked.

Bullock plugged his laptop to the projector's cable and shows the information to the group. “I did a case a while back with the Feds about this guy but he was using an alias. His conglomerate has bases around the world and is suspected for numerous eco-terrorist related attacks across the globe. The reason we couldn't take him down and his cult is because he's too powerful. All of our evidence against him seemed to have been destroyed or vanished but I got a feeling someone was paid off to dump it.”

Bullock smirked as the Ra's al Ghul's profile was shown on the screen. “But luckily I got a backup. This is all I have on this guy and his league. We only know about his children, Talia and Nyssa, but we have no idea about his grandson's existence.”

“Wow there's a lot of killing on his end, ” Kyle commented, looking at the screen. “Do you think that he's part of an assassin's club?”

Dick turns to the commissioner who has his hand under his chin, thinking. He has been silent throughout the whole meeting before he finally spoke up.

“As of right now we have a lot of background information of the victim but lack the evidence to tie the victim to the scene of the crime. We'll need to find the employer who hired that murderer,” said Gordon, massaging his temples tiredly. “We will need a bit more than that to close this case. Expect some overtime on this starting tomorrow but for now that's it for tonight.”

With that said everybody started packing up; shuffling their papers into their folders and turning off their laptops.

Jason was heading out the door when Dick caught up to him. “Hey Jason, you got a second? I was wondering if you'd like to grab dinner with me?”

Jason looks over at Dick curiously. “Huh? Ah...sure. What do you have in mind?” This newbie is pretty bold to ask him out on his first day.

“Cool! I was thinking we can order takeout and head back to my place. There's something I'd like to discuss with you and would like a second opinion on something important.”

Jason cocked his head and furrowed his brow. Dick lost him there.

“Grayson are we ready to go?”

What.

“Uh yeah Damian. Just let me pack up and we'll be all set.”

Jason shook his head and stared at the pint-sized demon leaning at the door way watching them. “Dick, what is that punk talking about?”

Dick shrugged and gave him a sheepish smile.

 

 

After dinner Dick and Jason are in Dick's apartment cleaning up the dining room. Damian went to use Dick's shower leaving the men talk (or complain) about their situation.

Jason was thinking hard as he washes the dishes. Throughout the whole dinner he was wondering about Dick's decision. “You're gonna take him in?! Did you really think that through?”

“Look, he doesn't have anyone to turn to and he wasn't willing to give us his mother's contact information to pick him up,” said Dick as he cleaned the table. “Apparently having blood relations with an international eco-terrorist suspect would paint a bulls-eye on the back of the boy's head.”

Jason turns on the faucet to wash the soap off the cutlery. “Dick you're not thinking straight. Sure he's a kid and all but he's a kid that can handle a sword who made a room full of trained police officers a fool of themselves. Just because you manage to beat him doesn't mean that you know what he's capable of.”

Dick puts the rag down to look at Jason in the eyes. “How can you make judgments like that Jason? He's a kid who needed help. You don't even know him.”

“And you do?”

“Probably more than you Jay,” Dick sadly say as he continues to clean the kitchen.

Jason looks at Dick's back before putting the last dish on the rack. Taking care of that kid is a big responsibility and it just makes him look like a jerk for not caring enough. Can't blame him for acting this way because the kid is an ass to everybody around him. But Damian just lost a family member in the most violent way that Gotham City has to offer and no one is there to help him but Dick Grayson. Maybe he should start talking to the kid. He knows he hasn't been the friendliest but he just doesn't trust him.

Jason goes into the living room and sees Damian playing on his Nintendo DS. Huh? So he could be a normal kid after all. He has a towel around his shoulders from taking a shower. Seeing some drops of water dripping from his hair, Jason decided to help him out. He takes the towel from Damian's shoulder and forcibly dried his hair.

“Knock it off Todd!” Damian tries to whack Jason.

“Hold still kid, your hair is still wet,” said Jason. Damian stops whacking at Jason and sits still. They sit in an uncomfortable silence with the sound of a video game playing in the background.

Jason sighs, promising himself and Dick to make an effort to bond with the boy. Ugh, why is this so hard?

“Did you contact your mom yet? I'm assuming she would know by now and be on her way to pick you up,” said Jason, attempting small talk.

“My mother has more important business to do than to come to Gotham. Now that grandfather is gone, she has to run LoA by herself. Eventually she will come to retrieve me but for now I wait.”

“So I'm guessing you've never seen your mother in a while.”

“There's not much time to miss her,” Damian shrugged as he continues to play his game. “I was destined to lead the League someday. I was given the world's best tutors and my grandfather taught me everything I needed to know. I was destined to lead humanity like my grandfather and we were going to create a whole new world.”

Jason hums, not really getting at where the boy is going with this. Utopia? Career path? Dream world? “So I'm guessing one of your tutors taught you that fancy swordplay?”

“My mother taught me how to pick up a sword when I was four. My tutors helped refine my skills to perfection...until they were no longer needed.”

Jason didn't like the sound of that last part so he ruffles Damian's hair until its a complete mess to hide his discomfort. Out of irritation Damian pounces on Jason and started smacking him for messing his hair. And that's how Dick came into the living room to see them rolling around on his carpet.

 

Its getting late into the night and they should head off to bed. Jason and Damian are showered wearing Dick's borrowed clothes that are either too small or too big for the both of them. Dick offers the bed to Jason and Damian to share while he takes the couch. After much debating they eventually decided to share the same bed together.

“That's quite a bed you got there. It's huge!”

“It's my parent's bed. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it,” said Dick as he moves to let Damian to sit by the window of the bed.

Jason sits down on the edge of the bed, not looking at Dick. “...you grew up with a loving family, didn't you?”

“Yeah...When I was a boy I would sneak into their bed and get between them to just cuddle. I still did that when I got older even though it was childish of me. But my parents would still move over even though I'm not as small as I used too be.” Dick smiles fondly and sadly at the same time staring at his covers. He could still remembered crawling under their covers to cuddle before eventually falling asleep to his parent's warmth. Those were his happiest days of his life.

Pushing nostalgia to the back of his mind, Dick smiles brightly and flops down in the middle of his bed. “If the bed can fit two adults and a half, it should have no problem to fit all three of us.”

Damian was sitting at the head of the bed staring at Dick before burrowing under the covers turning away from them.

Jason laid on the bed with his arms stretched over his head looking at Dick. “Well if you're sure about that I guess its fine. I don't usually make it a habit to get in bed with my coworkers after the first date. I'm not that kind of guy but I'll make it an exception,” Jason smirked.

“Huh?”

“Nothing to worry about your pretty little head about. Goodnight.” And Jason shuts the lights.

 

 

Next day they headed to the police station with Damian in towed. Most of the police officers gave Damian the stink eye for the mess he caused yesterday but Damian just gives an sharp, evil smile. He mostly kept to himself and was quiet, staying in the office with Jason and Dick while they were researching their case. Later on there were a couple of incidents with Damian causing havoc such as breaking into the weapon's vault for his sword and attempting to murder Ubu again before Dick decided it might be a good time to step out of the office. They stop by the park near the GCPD to get some much needed fresh air and stretch their legs.

“Just to confirm we're not here to have fun, correct?” said Jason as he was dragged along to the park.

“Nope,” Dick said sounding out the 'p'. “We're just getting some fresh air before we head back to work.”

“Then why can't we just leave the kid at home? If you're worried about your stuff, I'm sure the GCPD has an empty holding cell for us to put the brat in.”

Dick slapped Jason's arm for suggesting it. “I'm worried that if I left him alone at home they would come for him with no one to protect him. And what do you mean putting Damian in a holding cell?! He is just a child!”

“Grayson, no prison can ever hold me. I can lock pick out of there in less than five minutes,” said Damian as he walked besides Dick. “Then I would make them pay for getting in my way starting with Todd on the top of my list.”

Hearing that declaration Jason leapt to take a swing at Damian and missed. They ended up chasing each other around the park with Dick smiling from the obvious 'bonding'.

“I'm going to get some snacks. Find a bench and I'll be right back,” said Dick as he goes to a hotdog stand near the fountain.

After Dick is away a good distance, Jason turns to Damian with an accusatory look. “What is with the goody two-shoe act around Dick?”

“It's not an act. I just don't like you,” Damian turned up his nose away from Jason.

“Hmph. Dick would be the type to be liked by kids because he might actually like them. I could see a guy like him meeting a nice girl and settling down to make a family...”

Jason didn't like that idea so he takes out a cigarette from his jacket and lights it up to breathe in the fumes. He hasn't known Dick that long but...there's just something soothing about him. Its like being around him makes him feel like anything is possible all from his smile. His kind nature has the ability to draw people in like a moth to a flame as it had with Damian and himself. Jason knew that letting Dick see his cases would scare him away or be apprehensive about working with him so he would be able to continue to work solo. But in just one day they became closer beyond a normal professional relationship and he hopes that someday that relationship would evolve to something more.

And this is crazy because he has never felt like this for anyone before.

“You're in love with him, aren't you?”

“Pretty big talk for a pint-sized runt,” Jason breathes out the smoke, staring at his cigarette between his fingers.

Damian looks in the direction Dick left to grab food before he turned to Jason. “I'm going to protect Grayson. Whatever the cost. Even from creeps like you,” said Damian in a serious voice and pointed at Jason's face.

“What the hell did you mean?! It's not like he's yours to protect or anything,” said Jason, not even looking at Damian's direction. What the hell is wrong with this kid.

Before Jason could say another word, Damian kicked him in the shin so hard that he went down swearing and moaning in pain.

“What the fuck was that for, midget?! Get back here!” Jason yelled as he moves to get up and chases after Damian.

As Damian ran towards the park's entrance, a man hiding behind the tree moved to grab Damian. It seems that Damian was ready as he pulled a knife hiding in his sleeve and lashed at him. The man clutches his hand in pain and before being punched in the head by him.

Jason sees this all happening in front of him from a good distance and reaches his belt to pull out his gun. Before he could do anything else, a second man slams the butt of a gun at his solar plexus, knocking him out cold.

Damian was busy trying to defend himself from his kidnappers before one of them clears his throat to get his attention.

“Kid I wouldn't do that if I were you. Or your cop friend gets a bullet to his head.”

Damian sees a man holding a knocked out Jason in a headlock with a gun to his temple.

“You think I care about this man?” Damian bluffed. His tone doesn't waver at the sight of the gun. “He was holding me back. I won't ask you again to back off or I will bring the wrath of the demons down onto your heads.” Damian slips a couple knives hiding in his sleeves ready to take them on.

The guy holding Jason started to get nervous as his eyes darted between Damian and Jason. He was about to let him go when a third guy with a deep voice was heard. “Little boy, I can smell your bluff from here.”

A fairly large Hispanic man with a muscular appearance step forward from the park's entrance and moves to stand in front of Damian. “But this man's partner cares and I say you cared for his partner too. We've been watching you, niño, ever since you stormed into the GCPD. Say that we put a bullet into his head and let you go. Compañero will show up and sees him dead at your feet. What will he think of you?”

Damian gritted his teeth and his hands clenched tightly at his knives. The man smirks down at the boy. “We are not afraid to put a bullet in his head and we would not be concern with putting another in his partner. So tick-tock, he is coming very soon.”

Damian lowered his head in defeat and dropped his knives. He follows the big man into the car parked at the sidewalk. The man holding Jason drags him into the car and puts him in the backseat next to Damian. They drove away from the park, not hearing Dick yelling in the background for them to stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still need a title for this series.

Jason woke up to a slap on his right cheek stinging. He found himself laid on the floor with his hands bound behind his back and his feet tied together. Glancing to his left he sees Damian in a similar position as he was surrounded by men standing around glaring at them. On a table near them he noticed his jacket, gun, and other of his personal items on there. He also noticed that Damian's item such as his jacket and his Nintendo DS are on there as well.

“I don't see it, sir. Its not on them and we didn't find anything at the kid's apartment either,” one of them said searching through their stuff.

“Have you searched the detective's home yet?”

“No. They are currently there searching. They will let us know soon enough.”

“Bane, I thought I could trust you with this task,” said a man in an expensive suit with a cigar. Carmine Falcone. Jason recognizes him from the picture in his file. A powerful mafia Don nicknamed "The Roman" of his hold on Gotham's organized crime. Carmine stands behind his men with the look of confidence and impatience, watching them by his feet.

“Believe me, patrón,”said the large muscular man with a white and black mask. “You and I both have a stake in this and it would do well if we were to cooperate.”

One of the men comes up to Damian and grabbed him by the hair, twisting his head upright to face his boss.

“Alright kid listen up. The stuff that your old man stole from us may not seem much but it is top of the line uncut, pure venom. It was suppose to be used as a secret ingredient for mass production of venom to hit the streets soon. Buyers are lining up with an estimated value of 100 mil easy. And if the buyers aren't happy, then my boss is not happy. So unless you wanted to end up with a bunch of holes in your body like your old man's, you better cough up that formula.”

Damian doesn't take shit from him as he high kicks the man's chin causing him to drop Damian. Carmine's men caught their fallen comrade from falling as one of them raises his fist to aim for Damian. Jason moves his body in front of Damian, taking the hit.

A bruise was starting to form on Jason's cheek as he glares at the people in the room. “When I get out of this, you scumbags are going to pay.”

Not being affected from the blatant disrespect, Carmine straightens his suit and left the room with Bane. Jason and Damian are left to the fate of their men who are cracking their knuckles in anticipation. “You're just asking to get beat up, punk!” And they all descended on him like a bunch of hungry wolves.

 

 

After the men were satisfied beating Jason, they left the room and took their captives' stuff. Jason and Damian were later left in the room with their hands and feet still bounded. Jason was breathing heavily from the beating he took. He licked the cut on his lips tasting blood as the rest of his body is covered in blood, bruises, and dirt. He made sure none of the men hurt Damian, even going so far to goad the ones watching them.

At a good feet away, Damian sits up and moves toward Jason uneasily.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah...I can take a hit.”

Jason moves to sit in a more comfortable position but winced as it jostles his injuries. His body hurts everywhere from that beating but he's had worse. Well not that he hasn't had worse before, his body has taken a beating more times than he would admit. It sounds bad but most of the time he was able to walk away.

He could feel something dislocated or even a crack but he couldn't tell where. An injured rib perhaps. He tested the ropes on his wrists for some slack but his injured state wouldn't let him do much of anything to free himself. At least Damian didn't get hurt.

Jason looked over at Damian who was sitting away quietly. Damian avoided eye contact with Jason, feeling guilty about a cop protecting him.

“You straight up lied to Dick, didn't you.”

“A-about what?”

Jason scoffs. “Just give it up kid. The stuff that asshole was talking about. Your grandfather gave it to you before he died.”

Damian looks away from Jason with his head leaning on his knees but Jason presses on the issue.

“What do you expect to gain by keeping quiet about this? You think you can avenge him by trying to kill that guy? Then what? You would have gone to jail and your grandfather wouldn't want that for you. And now we're in the hands of a power hungry ass-wipe who has no problem with us sleeping with the fishes. If you had told the police in the beginning we wouldn't be in this mess.”

Jason is angry that Damian has gotten them in this mess. He's angry that it puts them in danger. He wanted nothing more than to yell at the kid but he knows that it wouldn't help anyone.

“It's not like I don't understand how you feel but-” Jason turns away, not really knowing what to say. Actually he does know what to say but it might be too harsh on the boy. After all, he is just a kid in a stressful situation and now is not the time to blame anybody but the bad guys. Wheres Dick when you need him?

“...Aah shit forget it. Right now we need to figure out how to get out of this mess before my injuries would be the least of our problems.”

They both sit in uncomfortable silence thinking of an escape. They looked around the room to find something they can use but the room has nothing they can use. The only person they know who could possibly save them is Dick. But-

“Th-that Dick. He seems a bit soft but he's pretty reliable you know.” Jason laughed uneasily.

“Really? I thought he just looked reliable but kind of off on most things.” said Damian. And that brat had shot down any hope of getting out of here.

 

 

“I want to renegotiate our partnership.”

The day has gone dark when Carmine Falcone, crime boss of the Carmine family, and Bane are sitting in Carmine's private room. They are discussing business while drinking liquor and playing cards. Although it seems like a normal gathering, the tension is so thick that no one would dare enter the room.

“Your 40-60 deal is a joke. It is my formula and I am more at risk than you and your 'family',” said Bane as he puts down two cards.

Carmine glares at the man before him as he tapped his cigar on the ash tray. He is starting to regret on the deal with this street thug in exchange for his drugs. At every turn this convict questioned and criticized his decisions. His impudence would have gotten him killed but don't let his brawn appearance fool you. Underneath all that muscle is a cunning powerful force that would overthrow his hold on the underground if Carmine isn't careful. 

“I offered you funds and connections for you to develop the drug properly. Even offered you isolated warehouses so your production would not be interrupted,” said Carmine as he brings his cigar up to smoke. He is not the least intimidated by the heavily muscled man before him. They didn't call him the Roman for nothing. “I am a public figure so the stakes are high for me to be heavily compensated on this business venture.”

Bane didn't show his anger and swallows the liquor from his glass. “My formula is designed for my own use not because I want to but because I have to. I already distributed a more heavily distilled version so it would not be traced back to me.” He swirls the liquid in his glass. “To increase the dosage and adding your own drug to the mix is blasphemy. My men and I have done the heavy lifting around here but we should be more properly compensated for our end on taking this risk.”

Not taking his eyes off him, Carmine takes a card from the deck. “Although your thugs do the heavy lifting, they are stupid enough to get caught. That big thug you wanted to bring in was beaten to an inch of his life and is now in police custody. Once he wakes up, he'll be squealing like my old lady to the choir.”

As they glared at each other, one of Carmine's goons entered the room urgently. He halted as the glare was directed at him and quivered before he finally talked.

“Boss! I was thinking it would be best if the two who were recently brought in should move to a different location,” he said to Carmine.

“Well if you thought about that why did you bring them here in the first place?” said Carmine as he glared at the unfortunate sap. “I was already pissed that you brought them to my private residence but to bring a copper here too just takes the cake.”

“I would but...the cops are out in high alert tonight combing the city. According to the news, a terrorist has planted a bomb somewhere within the city limits.”

“What?! Are our production sites-”

“Have ceased production tonight and the inventories are locked up safe and sound,” Bane calmly said as he takes a card from the deck.

Carmine visibly relaxed. “We'll move them to one of the warehouses tomorrow morning when the bomb threat has been called off. If they haven't cough up the formula yet, get rid of them,” said Carmine and dismisses him away. He rubbed his brow to relieve the tension that was built up.

“Guess your hired help are not so different as mine,” Bane said. “Except on what truly matters.”

And he places his cards down showing a straight flush.

 

 

On the edge of the city limits is a house crawling around with bodyguards armed ready to shoot first and ask later. Although they are high alert, none of them noticed a dark figure sneaking past them making his way to the house.

Using the shadows as cover, Dick pulls out a grappling gun and shoots for the roof. A small sound was made when it hits his mark but none of the guards heard it. He makes his way quietly across the roof and gets into the house through the attic window. He lands inside quietly looking around before taking out a bomb from his pouch and sets off the timer in two hours.

 _There. Plenty of time to get the boys and get out of here,_ Dick thought, placing it on the ground. _Now where are they-_

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard muffled thumping sounds coming from below.

 

 

“Damn you assholes!! Get me the hell out of here!!” Jason shouted, using his feet to slam at the locked door. The position wasn't comfortable as he continues to kick at the door, making a racket. “When I get my hands on you, there will be hell to pay!”

Damian just watches Jason making a fool of himself. They've been trying to get out of their bonds for a while but the ropes are really tight. There is no way the bad guys are going to let them out and Jason should just wait and think-

A hand rested on Damian's shoulder gently not to startle him. He looks up and sees Dick with a shushing expression, giving him a wink. He then goes to Jason who is still kicking at the door and taps on Jason's shoulder.

“What is it Dami-Di!”

Dick covered Jason's mouth before he could yell and shushed him.

“Are you boys alright?” Dick whispered.

“Dick! How did you find us?”

“What _are_ you wearing?!”

Dick is wearing a black, skin-tight spandex with blue marks dipping from his shoulders toward the middle of his chest. The way the blue emphasized his shoulders down from his chest to his fingers. And how for some reason it just accentuates his butt. Jason never noticed it so round and plush before.

Damnit Jason. If they weren't in a hostage situation, he and his libido are going to have a nice long talk after this.

“This? This helps me blend in the dark and move better. I have to sneak onto this place so nobody would see me,” Dick reasoned. He got up and did a twirl, striking a pose. “What do you think?”

“I can only look you in the eyes right now,” Jason said as he looks up and away from Dick's distracting figure. He's right about the dark form fitting part but the suit just screams for unwanted attention.

Dick pouted before he moves to untie them. “I went home and found these guys going through my stuff. After I bring them to the police, I ran the plate of the car that took you guys and interrogated them. The address from those guys and the car led me to this place.”

“Wow that's great! So where are the cops right now?” Jason asked.

“Um funny thing about that...I didn't call for back up....”

“What the fuck?!”

Dick gave a sheepish smile from the disbelief look Damian and Jason are giving him. “I actually have something better. I planted a bomb somewhere in this house and before I came here I called the GCPD about the bomb threat. When this place blows they'll be right on top of this with SWAT teams and bomb squads. We can escape in the confusion and these guys would be brought to justice in no time.”

“Wow Grayson, I'm impressed,” said Damian, rubbing his freed wrists.

“It was nothing." Dick moves to untie Jason next. "An old buddy of mine taught me how to make a bomb. It was crudely made but it should be able to take down half of the house and if nothing else...its flashy. But it should go off in two hours so we should get out of here.”

“Easier said then done, how do we get out of here? We're locked in this room and I'm pretty sure there is a guard standing outside,” said Jason.

“Well lucky for you I have a lock pick we can use so we can just walk through the front door,” said Dick and finishes untying Jason. When Jason stands up and stretched his limbs, he lets out a grunt of pain and collapsed to the floor.

“Jason! What's wrong?!” Dick and Damian rushes to catch him.

“I'm having trouble walking and I think my arm was broken,” Jason mutters as he slowly sits down.

Dick's chest tighten as he looks at Jason closely. He could see blood and bruises littered around his face. It didn't occur to him that Jason and Damian might have gotten hurt while he was wasting time planning to get here.

Taking a deep breath, he needs to keep his head and calm down. He can't let them see him freak out. Dick sees some broken cardboard and sheets lying around in the room. He picks them up and creates a makeshift splint for Jason's arm and leg, handling with care and dutifully.

“That should hold until we can get you to the hospital,” Dick said as he finishes tightening the fabric. “Though I am worried about other injuries you may have sustain...” Dick's eyes trailed Jason's body up and down uneasily.

“It's fine Dick. I'm alright,” Jason scoffs at Dick's concern to show he's tough. “Guess you were worried about us that you would go through so much trouble to save us.”

Dick stares into Jason's eyes, hoping to convey his concern.“Of course I would. You're my partner.” They sat there, staring into each others eyes as though it is just them in the room, hoping to convey their concern for each other. It wasn't until Damian clears his throat that the two snapped out their trance.

Dick looks away and coughs. “We should get to a safe distance before the bomb blows. If we wait any longer it might be too late.” Dick shows them his wrist watch that's counting down by the second. They have 1 hour and 40 minutes before the bomb explodes.

“Exactly where did you plant the bomb?”

“The bomb...” Dick takes in a deep breath. “Its in the attic upstairs.”

Jason and Damian looked at Dick blankly before freaking out.

“You idiot! The plan was to save us! Not kill us!”

“Of all the incompetency! I would have expected it from Todd but not you!”

“Well I didn't know you would actually be right underneath my feet!” Dick argued. He couldn't help but react to them freaking out. “I was more worried about them moving you guys and if they did, I don't think I would be able to find you later.”

“Not to be a downer but Grayson it would be prudent to plan our escape.”

“Right, I have it handled.” Dick moves towards the door and lock picks it. After hearing a soft click, he takes out his escrima sticks from his thigh holster and holds it at a ready. “Right, be ready to move. Damian you might need to help Jason move if you can.”

Damian slings Jason's arm around his shoulder and picks himself up ready to move. Despite Jason's huge size, Damian seems to be able to handle him properly.

“Wait! Did you bring a gun for me to use?”

Dick just smiles back at Jason. “When you're with me, you don't need a gun.”

And with that, Dick kicks open the door and jumps out into the hallway. He surprise attacked the man guarding them, raining down a barrage until he couldn't get up.

Dick kept moving with Jason and Damian trailing behind him with their jaws slacken from that display. They ran into one or two guards along the way but not before Dick incapacitated them, barely breaking a sweat. It seems Dick could handle himself just fine with the sway of his hips for every step, displaying his overconfidence. As they kept moving they could hear more people coming from behind them. The guards must have run into their fallen comrades and are looking for their attacker.

Dick pushes Jason and Damian into an empty room before he stands in the middle of the hallway looking at both directions. As the sound of them kept coming closer, he rotates the escrima sticks in his hands and tightened his grip before tackling his incoming assailants.

Dick rolls to the side to avoid a string of bullets before winding himself around an incoming bad guy and snap kicked him in the stomach. Hearing the sound of bullets ricocheting around him, Dick rolls from the side wall into an empty room across to avoid the bullets. He could feel a trickle of blood from a bullet that grazed his arm but pushes the pain to the back of his head and concentrate.

Some of the guards brave enough venture into the room but not before being attack with blows onto their heads and kneecaps waiting for them. As one of the bad guys reloaded his gun to aim at him, Dick drops his body to aim for a painful headbutt and elbow jabs for good measure.

Dick moves back to the hallway and jump kicks at an incoming guard causing him to fall on top of his buddies. He defies gravity by launching himself from the ceiling and the side wall at a dizzying pace to avoid bullets and blunt objects meant for him. He makes contact with the guy with a gun by throwing his escrima stick hard into his face. With another guy he slam's the guy's face onto the ground, knocking him out and catches the escrima in his other hand.

Dick breathes heavily, catching his breath before twirling around and punches the man in the throat for attempting to sneak up behind him and knocks him down.

Jason and Damian peered from the doorway amazed, witnessing the badass display. What Dick did at the police station is nothing compared to what they had just seen. All that pent up energy and emotion had unleashed without holding back. Dick has that dangerous kind of beauty, standing in the amidst of his fallen enemies.

Catching his breath Dick tilted his head for them to get moving and turns his back to lead the way. As they were walking past the goons laying on the ground, Jason kicked at one of the downed man hard for oggling at Dick's swaying behind.

Walking through the twist and turns of the hallway, they finally step through a huge living space where the exit is located in front of them. Although there doesn't seem like there are any guards present, the group remains vigilant for any potential threat. As they made their way to the front door, they could see Bane sitting on the sofa not paying attention to them. They could see a syringe sticking out of Bane's arm as he pulls it out of his vein. He places the syringe on the table with a case next to it as he cleans his arm.

“Lets not stand on ceremony here. Can't have you thinking its easy to escape from here.”

They turn their heads to the sound of Carmine Falcone standing on top of the stairs looking down at them. He has his remaining bodyguards standing behind him before fanning out surrounding the group.

“When I heard what you did to my men, I was shock at how you repaid my hospitality,” he said not minding the tense trio.

“Well I couldn't say it was a hospitable treatment so my colleague helped repay in full,” Jason retorted. “After all, do unto others as they have done to you schtick.”

“I'm offering you a second chance to surrender yourself and return to your room.” Carmine ignores his retort. “Otherwise my colleague Bane will escort you back himself.”

At the mention of his name Bane gets up from the seat of the couch and steps towards them. His hulking figure loomed over them, muscles visibly bulge as though it has increased its mass. His intimidating figure causes them to instinctively take a step back and Dick slipping into a defensive stance ready to protect them. Bane pops a creak in his neck and smirks down at Dick.

Dick narrowed his eyes at Bane as he removes his watch and tosses it at Damian. He rushes toward Bane raining down strikes after strikes at the enormous man. His strikes doesn't seem to have an effect on Bane, who doesn't move from his spot and brushes them off. Bane caught one of the sticks in his hand and drags Dick towards him.

“Is that all the strength you had? Victory has defeated you.”

Bane slammed the escrima onto Dick's face causing him to stumbled back from the blow. Disoriented, Dick managed to move out of the way as Bane aimed a punch at him. Dick was forced into defensive maneuvers as Bane attacks him. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't attack. With every block and evasion Dick slammed his escrima sticks, blow after blow aiming at Bane's vulnerable parts barely having an effect on him. Bane kicks Dick in the stomach, sending him stumbling against the wall. Dick brought his escrima up to protect him from an incoming blow but Bane slapped the escrima away, sending it flying and impaling at the wall next to Dick.

Although his fighting style doesn't require him to use a lot of strength, Dick felt that he has used more than he should with this guy. Judging by the size of his arms and a head taller than him, it seems his muscle mass has protected him from sustaining any injuries.

Dick was knocked out of his thoughts when Bane kicked his side, sending him flying into the coffee table, tipping it over. Dick grunts from the impact of the table stabbing his side and rolls to get up. As he crouches to get up, Bane grabs him by the shoulder and slammed him up against the wall. As Bane draws his fist back, Dick barely managed to disarm Bane to let him go. He uses his leg to attack Bane's lower body, causing him to stagger back. It wasn't enough as Bane slammed his fist to the side of Dick's head, knocking him down.

 _Same weak points as a human being. Same weak points as a human being._ Dick repeats his mantra except in his situation he begins to wonder if he's over his head. Bane relies on his brute strength and endurance but he lacks finesse and flexibility.

Dick twirls to get back up and delivers an upper cut under Bane's chin. He flips around Bane and delivers a hard kick to the back of the knees sending Bane tumbling down. Dick moves to get away but Bane grabs Dick by the leg and swings him onto the wall creating a crater.

Not letting go, Bane holds Dick up by the front of his suit. Dick groans, feeling fatigue and sore all over his body from the impact.

“Whats wrong boy? You look disconcerted,” Bane smirked down at Dick with gleeful eyes, bringing him up close with only an inch away from them.

“Dick!” Damian shouted. The boy was worried, making a move to help Dick but was held back by Jason, gripping his shoulder.

At the corner of his eye, Jason could see some of Carmine's guards edging near them intending to take them back. He peers down at the watch Damian is holding and saw that there are a couple of minutes left until the bomb blows. He needed to stall them and they can't risk going back to the room.

“Let go of him now or I will blow this popsicle stand wide open!”

Everybody in the room turned to Jason holding a small device up for all to see.

“Listen up you boobs! Somewhere in this house is a big bad bomb waiting to explode and this here is the trigger,” Jason smirked, waving a small rectangular thing in his hand. Its actually an air conditioner's remote he found when Dick was beating up bad guys. Jason's hand covered most of the device so nobody can take a closer look at it. “Now if y'all don't back off and let us go, Imma blow this place sky high! Understand?”

Everybody stares at Jason and the trigger in his hand with apprehension and worry. Bane and Carmine Falcone are the only ones who don't look the least bit worried.

“I can smell your bluff from up here,” said Carmine Falcone. “You think you have the guts trying to pull this over me but it won't work.”

Carmine Falcone gestures one of his men to hand him a gun. He clicks the safety off and holds it in a practice ease aiming for him. “Now I wouldn't have my men have a second to hesitate in blowing you to pieces right here right now just because you have a 'trigger'. In fact I would even do the deed myself. But not before putting a bullet in the boy and your friend and making you watch. Now which do you think is faster? Your hand on the trigger or me and my men filling you and your friend with bullets?”

Jason grits his teeth but his eyes didn't waver from that intimidation, keeping his finger near the button. He's in inner turmoil whether if he should play it safe and give in or play along with his bluff, risking the safety of his friends.

Damian was keeping quiet for once, with his hand toying with the watch in his hand. But he looked at Jason at the corner of his eye and said in a quiet voice so none of them can hear him. “I don't know where you get that thing Todd, but don't call off your bluff.”

He turned his watch up, counting down to the second, making Jason grin with a cocky smile.

“Alright Carmine you win. You and your men are faster than me and my trigger.” Jason bowed his head down and smiling guiltily. He raised both of his hands up to his eye level. “But we'll still be leaving now, thank you very much.”

Carmine and his goons lowered their weapons feeling good from calling their bluff. A grin started to creep up to Carmine Falcone's face. “And what makes you say that you'll be leaving?”

Jason gave a low chuckle. “Well I'm known for making an exit but in such sort notice I'm hardly prepared. But when in doubt, use C4.”

Just seconds after hearing the watch beeping, the bomb exploded from upstairs shaking the whole house. Debris and dust falls from the ceiling as a blast of heat coming from upstairs hit Carmine and his goons causing them to hit the deck. It was chaos as they try to get away from the blast, many tripping and pushing each other. Jason shielded Damian from possible falling debris before ushering them out the door.

With Bane distracted from the blast, Dick pulls his escrima stick from out of the wall. He jabs his escrima stick up Bane's chin simultaneously clicks on the button to taser him. Bane shouted in pain, letting Dick go as he crumples to the ground spazzing from the electric current. With one final look, Dick makes his way toward the door and leaves the complex in the dust.

 


	4. Chapter 4

As they are far enough distance away from the complex, Damian stops running. He turns to Dick and Jason as they have stopped running, looking at them in a serious expression that does not suit his age.

“...Todd, Grayson...I have to stay.”

Dick made to protest. “Damian what are you talking about? We need to keep going-”

Jason puts a hand on Dick's shoulder to stop him. He looks at Damian considering his request before he nodded at him.

“Go. Good luck kid.”

Dick looks at him unsurely before Jason drags him away from Damian and the complex burning at the distance.

 

 

Moments later the public safety swarm around the complex. The fire department is putting out the fires, the bomb squad is assessing the bombed area, the EMTs are tending to the injured, and the GCPD are interrogating witnesses at the scene. With this many authorities in the area, Carmine and his men are forced to stay.

One of Carmine's goon came behind his boss and spoke softly to his ear.

“No sign of Bane. He may have either escaped or buried under the pile of rubble,” he whispered to Carmine.

Carmine breathes heavily through his nostrils to keep himself from showing his anger. “It better be the latter otherwise we'll hunt him down. And the goods?”

“Are in a different location, sir.”

“Its times like these that I'm glad we never set up shop in my own home.”

Carmine visible relaxed at the news. His demeanor doesn't waver when Gordon and Bullock approached him.

“Carmine, how are you tonight?” Gordon greeted.

“Good evening commissioner. As you can see, my house was bombed.”

“Care to explain why your house is bombed?” Bullock questioned Carmine gruffly.

“Did you actually think that I would intentionally set my house on fire? You should be looking for the people who did this instead of wasting time with your accusation.”

Gordon and Bullock stand off against the Roman with his men waiting behind him. The GCPD and the Carmine family are always at odds from shutting down operations to obstructing justice from doing its job. There was even a time the GCPD fell onto its knees because of the mob before Gordon and his team managed to bring it back up.

Before any of them could say anything one of the officers came up to Gordon with a surprise vistior.

“Sir, we found this in the room where this boy was being held.” He gesture the boy to step forward before handing a vial to Gordon.

“Hey its that kid. What are you doing here?” Bullock said.

Damian is standing in front of them with Jason's jacket in his arms, covered in ashes as though he came from the fire directly. He didn't spoke a word but blankly stares at Carmine and his men who are glaring at him.

“Well what do you know. It's the new venom drug,” Gordon inspects. “Very potent, expensive, and...dangerously illegal.”

Bullock smirks at the Carmine before motioning GCPD officers to cuff Carmine and his men and usheres them to the police cars. As Carmine is being led away, he stares at Bullock with an intense glare imagining him dying in that very spot.

“By the way Carmine, you won't be able to buy yourself out of jail this time,” Bullock said. “The new prosecutor has been itching to put you away for a very long time.”

Carmine roars at the indignity, trying to get at Bullock with officers holding him back into the squad car.

Gordon puts the vial in a ziploc bag as evidence and puts it in his coat. “Alright. I need to take this back and make sure Carmine won't be getting away this time. With this the Carmines won't be getting out for a very long time,” said Gordon. “Bullock, can you handle things from here?”

“You can count on it, Gordon,” said Bullock.

Gordon gets into his squad car and drives away following the squad car holding Carmine and his men.

Bullock looks back at the burning house, watching the fire department working to contain the fire. He turns to Damian who is watching the whole proceedings quietly.

“So...what happened to your bodyguards?”

“Tt. Got separated along the way.”

Bullock stares at the kid for a moment before looking back at the ruined complex. “Those knuckle heads...”

 

 

Dick and Jason are in a good distance away before they decided to catch their breath behind the trees. They could hear sirens sounding at the distance and bright blinking lights driving towards the explosion. Dick is pacing back and forth worried with hands grasping his hair.

“What the hell was I thinking?! I've become a terrorist now!” Dick freaks out. “I mean blowing up a building and beating up bad guys?! It hasn't been 48 hours since joining GCPD and I'm gonna get fired or worse arrested!”

Jason turns his head back and forth following Dick's pacing. He doesn't seem the least bit freaked out. “Don't worry about it. You're not going to get arrested,” he said in a placating tone. “I mean you'll probably get yelled at but nothing that serious if they don't find out. I mean you could always blame me, I'm used to it.”

Dick leaned against a tree and slowly slid down to sit next to Jason. He puts his face into his hands and moans, regretting his actions of what has transpired. This is not gonna look good on his record.

“Lets see; you beat up a pint-sized assassin with rabies in front of your co-workers, got your partner and that brat kidnapped by a dangerous thug,” Jason drawled, counting Dick's misadventures on his hand. ”Blew up a house, beating up bad guys, and got your ass handed to you by a Goliath.”

“And all within 48 hours.” Jason smiles at the thought before turning to Dick. He still hasn't looked up, with his head leaning into his knees.

“There's more to add on that list but by the end of the day that was badass. Not everyone can say that they did all that in two days, or at most a week. I mean sure there's hell of a lot of paperwork to do but you did what needs to be done.”

Dick mumbled into his knees. “To be honest I broke protocol because I didn't exactly think it through.” He finally picked up his head but toys with a grass stalk by his feet as nervousness. “I figured if a swat team shows up on their door steps they might do something rash and hurt you guys. If I had more time to think, we could have arrested them and rescued you guys without blowing up anything.”

“Yeah but wheres the fun in that?” Jason bumped Dick's shoulder to reassure him. “If you had done the normal way, we wouldn’t have seen you swooping in to save the day.”

Dick frowned at the thought but remembered something important. “By the way, why did Damian stayed behind?”

“His grandfather was murdered and didn't get justice. Before he died, he probably gave that thing the mafia was looking for to Damian for safe keeping. He must have hidden the stash somewhere in his Nintendo DS because when we were getting out of there, Damian stopped by the bad guy's room to pick up his game but nothing else,” said Jason as he thought about it. He thinks back at what he knew at the police station and the conversations he had with him at Dick's apartment and back at the complex. “He's not the most normal or the most patient kid, but he must have been conflicted about how to avenge his grandfather. In the end he decided to choose justice, not vengeance to get back at Carmine. Although I won't be surprised if he actually went back to kill the guy but I guess we'll have to trust him.”

Dick stares at Jason carefully before nodding at Jason's thoughts. “I'm surprised Jason. Somewhere along the way, you learned more about Damian than I ever had.”

Jason scoffed and shook his head. “That's not true. I hate that kid.”

“You sure about that?”

“Well...I like you,” Jason confessed softly as he locked eyes with Dick. Dick could feel a blush running up his nose and up to his ears turning red. Although its dark, he could feel that Jason could see right through him if his stare is any means to go by. He tears his eyes away, coughing to fill the stretched silence as his fingers drummed on his knees to play it cool.

“Huh? Aah..o-kay, thanks,” he stammered. Dick wasn't ready for a confession out of the blue anytime soon, no less his partner. Still, he couldn't say that he doesn't like Jason. He knows the guy less than 48 hours and can't be too quick to make judgments. Now that he thinks about it, maybe he might be attracted to Jason too.

Dick shifted to stand up to hide his awkwardness. “Well at any rate, we better get you to a hospital. I have a car parked somewhere near here.”

“Don't worry about me,” said Jason, relaxing against the tree. “You should go join the investigation. If you go now, Bullock would let you off the hook with a cuss or two.”

“And dressed like this? I don't think so,” said Dick, gesturing his suit. Wearing black spandex with escrima sticks tucked in his holster near a crime scene does not mean suspicious.

“I'm your partner, you won't be getting rid of me that easily.” Dick smiles as he shows Jason his hand, signaling him to take it. “C'mon lets go. I need get check out too. Here, give me your hand.”

As Dick moved to help him up, Jason suddenly grabs Dick by the back of his neck to pull him down to eye level. He stares into Dick's eyes and kisses him.

 

 

 

 

After coming back from the Carmine's complex, Damian is siting in Bullock's office with a fire blanket wrapped around his shoulder sipping his hot chocolate. His face is cleaned free from the ashes he wiped on at the crime scene. Bullock comes into the office and sits across him with his desk dividing them.

“It took me a while but I managed to contact your bodyguards and they should be here soon,” he said. “I'm going to give them a mass chewing out when they get here. But that's not what I want to talk to you about.”

Bullock goes to the bottom drawer of his desk and takes out a folder. He turns to Damian, looking at him seriously with a hint of sympathy. “With Carmine locked away and a manhunt issued for Bane, there wouldn't be a reason for you to be in police custody. In an likely outcome, we'll have to put you in the foster system or worse; juvie for attempted murder and assaulting police officers with multiple witnesses present.”

Damian sets his cup down quietly on the desk. He then pulls the blanket around his shoulder tighter as though it would offer him protection. He's been quiet since he arrived at the station and his gaze downcasted, thinking about Bullock's option.

Its not to say that Bullock isn't soft with children but he knows how harsh Gotham is to its children when they've been through so much, staring at the boy with sympathy.

“Your mother could have come retrieve you but the Feds might jump at the chance to launch an investigation against her and the LoA. And all your 'tutors' are unsuitable or questionable to take care of you,” Bullock gruffly said. “Luckily one of our own decided to take you in before this whole mess even happened. You would have to be entered into witness protection in case the mob or authorities comes after you.”

Bullock hands Damian the information for him to read. After he skims the page he looks at Bullock with a questioning yet heartbreaking gaze. “Why would he do that? Doesn't he know how dangerous it is to be involved with me?”

“Don't know, you'll have to ask him yourself,” he said. He hands Damian a pen. “All you have to do is sign and it'll be processed in 2 to 3 days. Here's additional information about the witness protection program though I would highly suggest you change your last name for safety procaution. Do you need any suggestions?”

Damian looks over the information and spoke in a quiet voice. “My father's name was Wayne...”

And he signs his name 'Damian Wayne' on the dotted line next to his soon to be guardian; 'Richard John Grayson'.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy the fic. Kudos and comments motivate me for the next story.


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